Paraphrased quote: “It would be a shame if the aspiration is ‘to return to normal’ when current systems have been held together artificially for decades and are ways of imposing power. Why would we return to that?” — Russell Brand

.@newbalance aimed to set a new record for taking a shoe design from concept to consumer with their Test Run program. The traditional process for a concept to go to market takes 18 months. Here’s how they took only seven months: https://t.co/OpnnguSGzM#innovation

17,000 new followers on Instagram since the New York Times article about us. The #BallerBusters family is growing and awareness is finally being raised around the unhealthy side of the Instagram entrepreneur community.

Schoolhouse Rock was an iconic part of Gen X, so I’m wondering what Millennials and Gen Z had as equivalents. Cynicism and irreverence play a role, I’m guessing. Plus, early Gen Z (for example, a person who was born in 2000) is already biologically poised to become parents of the next generation. Anyway, Zonday’s hilarious song is geopolitical in nature but that’s not why I’m sharing it. It’s funny and, for the man who many simply call Chocolate Rain, the music and social media aspects are certainly on-brand. Click the play button in the above tweet and give it a listen 😂 While Schoolhouse Rock did NOT have politics (If it did, I don’t remember. Reach out to me if I’m wrong), it did include many U.S. history ditties like The Shot Heard ‘Round The World and some about civic engagement in democracies like I’m Just A Bill, but irreverence wasn’t a thing.

WeWork's Adam Neumann set to receive a $1.7 billion deal to step down from its board, which will include a $185M “consulting fee” from SoftBank and $500M of credit from the investor – WSJ https://t.co/xqHiMhBpyV

Similar to bus driver announcements but for pedestrians/for the streets, Google Maps introduced detailed voice guidance earlier this month. Video below. While its focus is on people with visual impairments, anyone can use it. This feature is currently available only in English in the United States and Japanese in Japan, but additional languages and countries are on the way:

Last week we saw the first 5G video call in the United States between two 5G smartphones. This collaboration with @SamsungUS will put the power of our 5G Ultra Wideband Network at the palm of your hand. #FirstOn5G#Verizon#5G

John DeLorean promised to build the world an "ethical sports car," swindled investors on two continents, then got suckered into buying cocaine from the federal government. Read the wild life story of one of America's greatest frauds. https://t.co/j2cuaPXzKw

For a decade, the music industry has promoted a motley series of copyright bills to Congress, only to watch them fail. But now there's a chance to “revolutionize the way songwriters get paid in America.” https://t.co/D6gJ91gz6u

Researchers are now using generative adversarial networks (GANs) to generate faces, produce 3D models from images, turn blurry photos into high res images and a lot more. But it's real power goes beyond images. GANs are one of the best tools yet for computers to teach themselves.

Can Apple save journalism? The company is planning a paid subscription news service after acquiring @texture, an app that provides subscribers with unlimited access to over 200 magazines for a monthly fee. #CheddarLIVEpic.twitter.com/QibP1rmaug

Ex-Twitter employees unload on Jack Dorsey for failing to clean up the platform: "It’s a technology company with crappy technologists," one former executive tells @mekosoff. "It’s where technologists go to die." https://t.co/fMtObqHN6l

Facebook is clearly dead serious about Stories. Merging Fb & Messenger Stories, launching on Fb Lite, opening collaborative Stories for Events and Groups. The war on Snapchat is just getting started https://t.co/psddc0McFZ

The MyScript Calculator free Android and iOS app by Vision Objects
I had the fortune of interviewing Giovanni Rodriguez of Vision Objects, a world leader in handwriting recognition. At the Mobile Apps Showdown, Vision Objects’ Fernando Rynne told the crowd that handwriting recognition goes beyond replacing legacy keyboards. The unprecedented app they created proves that. They named it the MyScript® Calculator and it’s available on Android and iOS. Check out the presentation video to see why MyScript Calculator was crowned the 2013 Winner of the Mobile Apps Showdown, besting nearly 40 other great competitors. Now that’s impressive!

Interview answers are provided by Giovanni Rodriguez of Vision Objects.

Q: What’s the difference between the MyScript® MathPad and the MyScript Calculator? How soon was MyScript MathPad created after MyScript Calculator?
A: MyScript Calculator is targeted at the general public and shows that there is an easier way to enter math into a machine than using a keyboard. The fact that your mathematical expression gets transcribed and calculated on the fly is what gives this app its wow effect. However, our core business has nothing to do with developing calculators or scientific solvers – we provide the handwriting recognition engines that let developers add handwriting input methods to their solutions (the SDK used in MyScript Calculator is called MyScript Equation). To illustrate the full power of MyScript Equation, we decided in Q2 2013 to develop a full-fledged mathematical expression renderer capable of recognizing and converting into LaTeX almost any form of mathematical expression. This is a tool many professors and students have longed for!

Q: After its inception, how many years and months did it take to finally present the Calculator at the Mobile Apps Showdown?

A: MyScript Calculator started a couple years back as a demonstration application we developed to showcase our math recognition SDK. All the customers we showed it to were amazed by its accuracy, speed and concept. In fact, after the feedback received at CES 2012, we decided to polish up this demo and turn it into an application. The first release of MyScript Calculator was born on Google Play in late June 2012. Then we recognized the need to port this app to the Apple world and version 1.1 appeared on the App Store that December, just 3 weeks prior to the 2013 Mobile Apps Showdown. The rest is history I guess. We have reached over 12 million downloads since its launch, appeared on the Apple TV commercial, and inquiries are still coming in from all over the world.

Q: At what age did you become aware that you loved math? What else would you like to say about your apps to students, parents, professionals, etc.?

A: Being a system engineer, math was always with me as a student. I remember those big calculators with a lot of buttons. In those days, just to write a simple equation, you’d need to refer to the user manual and do a lot of combinations. What we are looking to do is to have a real natural way to write and interact with math, text, shapes and much more. This is what our technology provides, a natural way for people who want the pen and paper feel, but with the advantage of mobile devices and the interactivity on tablets and smartphones. The idea behind the use of our technology is to provide students and professionals reasons to start using those devices more as companions and content creation devices, and less as consumer devices. Thank you for taking time to write about us and our vision for the great potential of mobile devices for students, parents, children, and professionals.